The Pittsburgh Penguins will name Mike Johnston as their next coach, the team confirmed Wednesday. Johnston and general manager Jim Rutherford have been finalizing the details of a contract that is expected to cover three seasons, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Penguins have been without a coach since firing Dan Bylsma on June 6. Johnston has been the coach of the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League since early in the 2008-09 season. Prior to coaching Portland, Johnston served as an associate coach in the NHL for the Vancouver Canucks (1999-2006)

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The Penguins, continuing the push to round out their roster, have made an offer for unrestricted free agent Shane Doan, his agent, Terry Bross, confirmed Monday. The team also is addressing its remaining restricted free agents. Bross, by email, said that Doan "has interest" in the Penguins but does not have a timetable for making a decision. Doan, 35, has reported offers from at least a handful of clubs and could opt to re-sign with Phoenix, where he has served as the Coyotes captain but became a free agent because of stability concerns with team ownership.

After losing at home to the Rangers in the seventh game of their conference semifinals, the Pittsburgh Penguins fired general manager Ray Shero but will retain coach Dan Blysma. … A defiant Donald Sterling informed the NBA he will not pay the $2.5 million fine levied against him while his lawyer said Sterling's actions do not merit any type of punishment. … California Chrome's trainers say the Kentucky Derby winner is fine and is ready for the second leg of the Triple Crown Saturday at the Preakness (4:30 p.m. Saturday, NBC)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Flyers coach Peter Laviolette was fined $10,000 Monday after calling out counterpart Dan Bylsma for sending out his checking line late in Philadelphia's 6-3 win at Pittsburgh on Sunday. Penguins assistant Tony Granato, who stepped on the top of the side boards and in between the two head coaches, was also fined $2,500. The incident occurred at 18:57 of the third period. Fine money will go to the NHL Foundation. Laviolette was upset that the Penguins' fourth line took a shift shortly after Jakub Voracek's empty-net goal concluded the scoring.

Claude Giroux scored in the opening minute and the host Philadelphia Flyers never looked back in taking a 5-1 victory over Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon to win their NHL playoff series, 4 games to 2, at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals against an opponent to be determined. The foe could be Washington if the Capitals eliminate defending Stanley Cup champion Boston when the two teams meet later Sunday. The Capitals lead the series, 3 games to 2. Giroux added two assists while Scott Hartnell, Erik Gustafsson, Danny Briere and Brayden Schenn also scored for the Flyers, who led 2-0 after the first period.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are set to show their position on the persistent Sidney Crosby durability questions and do their talking with plenty of zeroes. The team announced Thursday that it has agreed to a 12-year, $104.4 million extension with the center. Crosby is entering the last year of his $43.5-million, five-year contract. Crosby is not having any concussion-related problems and for the first time in many years is having normal summer workouts. CBC reported in early June that a 10-plus-year deal was in the works.

Evgeni Malkin wanted to know he was staying in Pittsburgh before he left for Russia. He got that assurance Thursday. Malkin and the Penguins agreed on an eight-year contract that will pay him $76 million - a cap hit of $9.5 million, highest on the team. "Very happy," Malkin said. The deal was struck late Wednesday night in general manager Ray Shero's office with J.P. Barry, Malkin's agent. Barry has been in Pittsburgh all week, quietly working on the deal. Malkin wanted the deal done before he returned to Moscow, where he spends his offseason.

PHILADELPHIA -- The Penguins will play in Game 4 without three of their regular players because of suspensions, and many players have mixed feelings about the NHL's decision. Right wing Arron Asham has been suspended for the remainder of the series while right wings James Neal and Craig Adams will miss tonight's contest because of respective one-game suspensions. "I think we're like the rest of the league," left wing Steve Sullivan said, "and the rest of the hockey world. We're a little confused.

PITTSBURGH — In the ultra-tight postseason, when refs regularly bury their whistles, power play opportunities don't come around very often. When they do, it's imperative to capitalize on them. That's been something the Penguins have not been doing of late. In the 15 games since captain Sidney Crosby has returned from injury, the Penguins have been disjointed with the man-advantage, converting on just nine of 45 chances (5 percent). That's just a bit of a downturn for the Penguins, who were ranked fourth (19.7)

By Everett Merrill, The Sports Xchange NEW YORK — Marc-Andre Fleury made history while giving the Pittsburgh Penguins a lead in the Metropolitan Division finals. The 29-year-old became the first Penguins goalie to record back-to-back shutouts in the playoffs, stopping 35 shots in a 2-0 win over the New York Rangers in Game 3 on Monday at Madison Square Garden. The Penguins lead the best-of-seven series 2-1. Game 4 is Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. Pittsburgh received second-period goals from center Sidney Crosby and left winger Jussi Jokinen.

By Vince Comunale, The Sports Xchange PITTSBURGH — Defenseman Kris Letang had a goal and an assist and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury earned his seventh career playoff shutout as the Pittsburgh Penguins pulled even at one game apiece in their best-of-seven series with the New York Rangers with a 3-0 victory at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh on Sunday night. "Almost to a man, I think our game was at another level tonight," said Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. Left winger Jussi Jokinen also added a power-play goal late in the third and center Evgeni Malkin scored an empty-netter with less than a minute remaining to seal the win. The Rangers, losers of eight consecutive Game 2s dating back to the 2011 postseason, have now lost 13 straight games in which they had a series lead.

PITTSBURGH -- Defenseman Mark Streit scored with 2:50 remaining in overtime as the Philadelphia Flyers won again at Consol Energy Center, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Saturday afternoon. Streit skated in on Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury from the left wing and converted a pass from defenseman Andrew MacDonald for his 10th goal of the season as the Flyers improved to 11-2-1 in their last 14 games at Pittsburgh. The Penguins (51-24-6), who are locked in as the second seed in the Eastern Conference, and Flyers (42-30-9)

Kris Letang will play for the Pittsburgh Penguins at Detroit on Wednesday more than two months after suffering a stroke. Letang hasn't played a game in 10 weeks — since Jan. 27 against the Buffalo Sabres. He was cleared medically last week and the Penguins left it up to Letang when he would return. "There's no doubt in my mind," Letang said weeks ago about his return this season. "Even the day I got the stroke, I asked the doctor when I'm going to be able to play again. So there's no doubt about it. If I'm on the ice today, it's because I want to return.

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Flyers kicked off an important weekend series against their cross-town rivals with a dominant performance. Right winger Matt Read scored two goals, goaltender Steve Mason made 25 saves and the Flyers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-0, on Saturday in the first meeting in four months between the clubs. “From start to finish, it was exactly what we needed to do,” Mason said. “Very impressive from the first line to the fourth line. Everybody stepped up and did what we had to do against a good club.

Back in 2012, in a moment of postgame euphoria, then-Flyers coach Peter Laviolette called Claude Giroux the "best player in the world" after the center helped eliminate heavily favored Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Since then, Laviolette has taken lots of criticism for that statement, especially from those who believe the Penguins' Sidney Crosby is head and shoulders the class of the NHL. Fast-forward to this season. Crosby — whose Penguins visit the Flyers in a Saturday matinee — leads the NHL with 88 points, while Giroux entered Thursday tied for 10th with 65 points.

OTTAWA -- Understand this, right up front: Defenseman Brooks Orpik didn't lose any sleep over the Penguins' 2-1 double-overtime loss to Ottawa in Game 3 Sunday night of their second-round playoff series. Not even over the way the Senators pushed the game past regulation by scoring a short-handed goal with less than 30 seconds to go in regulation. Of course, he had a pretty good explanation for it. "I always have a tough time falling asleep after games," Orpik said Monday.

— Chances are the 1992-93 Penguins always will be remembered for the most punishing postseason loss in franchise history. That team was supposed to win a third consecutive Stanley Cup and had Hall of Famers Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Larry Murphy and Joe Mullen, future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr and should-be Hall of Famer Tom Barrasso. It won 17 games in a row down the stretch, still an NHL record. It finished with 56 wins, 119 points and the Presidents' Trophy. It lost in Game 7 of the second round of the playoffs to the underwhelming New York Islanders.

By Dan Sheehan and Jacqueline Palochko, Of The Morning Call | January 9, 2014

With the polar vortex retreating to the icy northern regions where it belongs, we can now warm ourselves by playing a Johnny Carson-esque game: "How cold was it?" Well, the low Tuesday at Lehigh Valley International Airport was minus 1, shy of the record of minus 3 set in 1942. The high was 8 degrees. But with winds between 20 and 30 mph and gusts up to 41 mph, the air felt like minus 20 and even colder at times. ••• How cold was it? It was so cold that the OCS Logistics cold-storage facility in Orefield, where warehouse temperatures range from zero to 36 degrees, was warmer than the outdoors.

By Vince Comunale, The Sports Xchange PITTSBURGH — Including regular season and playoff meetings, Wednesday night's matchup was the 300th installment of Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers. While the Penguins sat in first place nine points ahead of the Flyers heading into action, it was the Flyers skating away with a 2-1 victory thanks to center Brayden Schenn's two goals. The Penguins wasted no time going to work, appearing to have scored just 19 seconds in. Penguins center Sidney Crosby broke in on a breakaway and wristed the puck on Philadelphia goaltender Ray Emery, the resulting rebound came to backhand of left winger Chris Kunitz, who also shot it off of the equipment of Emery.